St Mungo’s is a leading UK homelessness charity supporting over 3150 people every night. St Mungo’s services in Oxford include outreach for people experiencing rough sleeping, with access to an Employment Support team.
Martin joined the Employment Support programme at St. Mungo’s in May 2023, having spent most of his career in catering and hospitality. Martin wanted a career change and didn’t really know what he wanted to do, other than he knew that his end goal was paid employment within the construction industry.
In this instance, Grace, one of the Employment Specialists at St. Mungo’s and Martin decided that a good first step would be for Martin to obtain a work experience placement within construction. Initially, Martin and Grace contacted numerous construction firms throughout Oxfordshire, but as they didn’t receive any feedback, they decided to change tack.
Grace got in touch with the St. Mungo’s Corporate Partnership team, who connected them with Danielle McCarthy, Social Value and Community Manager at The Hill Group. Hill is one of the construction partners working on-site delivering Oxford North, a new innovation district for the city, set to open in 2025. Oxford North has an ambitious Community Employment Plan, supported by OxLEP Skills Community Employment Plan Adviser, Cat Armstrong, which sets out how the project will maximise the opportunities created for local people like Martin during the next 18 months of construction.
Grace contacted Danielle and provided her with some context about the Employment Support programme at St. Mungo’s and additionally introduced Martin, as a client seeking a work placement within construction. Danielle advised that there were some opportunities within their Oxford North programme and advised that they could facilitate Martin there. Once the date was set, Danielle put together a programme placement schedule, covering lots of different aspects of construction related work, showcasing different career pathways and opportunities.
The placement included multiple site tours, a day with the Sustainability and Environmental team, dedicated time with the Quantity Surveyors, the Technical and Design team and the commercial teams, before ending with a CV workshop and coaching session.
Following the placement, which Martin managed to attend every day, he has decided that he wants to focus on construction employment pathways within Technical and Design and complete additional work placements in this area. When Grace followed up with Danielle, Danielle had advised that the team had really enjoyed working with Martin and advised that The Hill Group were happy to work with St. Mungo’s Employment Support on work placements and paid roles in the future.
Martin said that he found the placement really enjoyable. “I learned more than I thought I would and despite the placement being brief, I felt empowered to ask the team when I didn’t understand something and felt the placement played well into my inquisitive nature.”
“I felt that the placement gave me an opportunity to be part of a work based setting without the immediate pressure of paid work and I’m really grateful for the team who were really hospitable and friendly.”
Find out more about Community Employment Plans: